Read time: 7 minutes
TLDR:
- I was away from writing, but now I’m back and ready to write about my current interests like healthy eating
- Overeating has been a habit in my life that I’m now trying to break because it makes me feel frustrated, guilty and isn’t healthy
- It will take time to build this awareness and healthier habits so be kind to yourself!
Preamble:
Hello Readers!
It’s been a while hasn’t it? My last post was on December 12th of last year…a little more than 1 month ago. To be honest, the reason that I took a step back was because I was feeling discouraged. I work quite hard on these posts (maybe perfecting it more than I should) in order to make it easy for viewers to read. Needless to say, I was disheartened when I checked how many people visited my blog that month and, at the time, there was none! …I hit a wall…stepped away from the keyboard and just enjoyed the holidays. What can I say, but I needed a break.
What I’ve learned from this break though is that there’s always time to come back. I definitely tried to keep this blog shaped to what I originally envisioned (all about ADHD tips and my comics), but what I’m starting to realize is that this blog is about my personal growth and learnings. Trying to write about something that is no longer relevant in my life doesn’t feel right, thus, I’m going to go back to what I said in my first post which is that I’m going to do me…just differently. I’m going to go with what my brain is most interested in and currently, I’m really passionate about healthy eating and exercise! How in line with the new year no?
When I was in Albania, one of the hostel guests recommended an author by the name of Deepak Chopra. He’s a Western trained physician who now discusses alternative medicine and holistic healing. I’m also someone who’s trained in Western medicine, but has realized that for me, healing comes from the bases of self-understanding and the food we ingest. I downloaded a few of his books (thank you other volunteer for giving me a Kindle!) and began to read the one that interested me the most: What Are You Hungry For?
The reason this book drew my attention first is because although I’m slim in figure genetically, I’ve always had a problem with overeating. This book zones in on the reasons we eat other than being hungry: emotions, comfort etc. For me, overeating began when I was a child and, in my household, we did not waste food. We always finished what was on our plate even if we were full and it’s important in Chinese culture to eat a lot. I imagine that these teachings stem from times of food scarcity, but is definitely not something rational to me now as an adult. Thus, I decided to break it down: reasons I kept overeating and reasons why I no longer wanted to overeat.
Reasons why I keep overeating:
- I’m bored (i.e. mindless snacking while watching TV)
- I don’t have anything else I want to do so I pass the time by eating…
- I’m curious and want to try something new
- Socially:
- I’m taking part in conversation and don’t realize my body is full
- Other people are offering me food and I don’t want to appear rude in turning it down
- I’m feeling uncomfortable socially and need something to do
- I’m actually thirsty (surprisingly often)
- Financially and environmentally, I don’t want to throw food away
- When I was young, I was praised for having a good appetite
- I’m afraid I’ll be hungry later when I won’t have easy access to food
- I’m stressed or tired
Reasons why I no longer want to overeat:
- I gain weight around my midsection which doesn’t bode well for my ego
- I feel guilty after overeating
- I like the feeling of lightness and having more energy
- I like having a strong connection with my body and it telling me when I’m full
- I have more mental clarity (less brain fog)
- I save SO much more money
The last reason makes me laugh because I’m now only realizing how much money I can save by listening to my body. I can typically consume only 2 fistfuls of food before my body tells me I’m full rather than the 4-5 fistfuls of food I used to use to previously fill my plate. It’s still very much a learning curve and right now I often end up putting aside half of my portion for later. So yes, now the food I purchase lasts twice as long!
What’s also interesting to me is that there are plenty of people who also notice themselves overeating. When I mention I’m trying not to overeat, many will also mention that they have the same struggles. It makes me wonder how much less food we’d actually need in the world if we only ate what we needed…
Now that I’m publishing this, I guess I now have some accountability…something which is super helpful when trying to build habits for those with ADHD. Here are some things that I’m doing which have helped to decrease my overeating…maybe they’ll help with yours?
My habits to decrease overeating:
- AWARENESS! All the habits below stem from improving awareness and is what the author focuses on
- Gaining awareness of my body’s signals through meditation, more sleep, and yoga
- Have 1 or 2 meals a day alone where I can concentrate on my food, eat slowly and be mindful of my body’s signals
- In social situations, taking less food than I think I’ll need (often times, this is only half a plate)
- Drinking water whenever I’m feeling hungry. If the hunger persists after 5-10 minutes, then I know I’m actually hungry and not simply thirsty
- Exercising – when I feel that my body is stronger, I feel more confident and more eager to take care of my body
- and of course…being kind and forgiving myself when I do overeat. I’ve been running the same neural pathways of overeating for so long that it’ll take a while for these new pathways to gain strength. Beating myself up or being irritated doesn’t motivate me so much as giving myself mental space with kind words.
That’s it for today and thank you for stopping by 🙂
T
World of Wandering Minds 